News Brief, 4/6/11

TEPCO has reported that as of 5:38 AM JST, the leakage of water from Unit 2’s supply cable pit has stopped. Before and after photos supplied by the IAEA are shown below:

After it was found that the leak had stopped, TEPCO continued to reinforce the crack by applying additional sealant. They are now considering the injection of additional “liquid glass” coagulant as an added measure of safety.

Release of low-level radioactivity water from the facility’s water treatment facility to the ocean is underway. This measure is intended to prevent a potentially much more serious release of contamination to the ocean by allowing the more radioactive water currently flooding the reactor buildings to be stored. The IAEA states that this operation is likely to last no more than five days.

Radiation levels in seawater immediately adjacent to the facility, near where the leak from Unit 2 occurred, have shown an increase in recent days: http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110406e4.pdf. However, these levels are expected to decrease now that the leak has ceased. Officials in Japan are monitoring the levels of contamination to fish in the region, and at the time being, no vessels (including fishing vessels) are permitted within 30 km of the nuclear power station. The U.S. FDA has stated that it will carefully check all fish imported from Japan to ensure that it meets regulatory limits.